They've actually done a study on the effect of colleges on success here: http://www.nber.org/papers/w7322 http://www.nber.org/papers/w7322. They looked at stud

They've actually done a study on the effect of colleges on success here: http://www.nber.org/papers/w7322 http://www.nber.org/papers/w7322. They looked at students who got into Princeton about 30 years ago, and compared the success of those who went to Princeton versus those who got in but went somewhere else. Unless you came from a really poor background, it doesn't seem to make a significant difference.